CHA Review

Warning: This is a long post with multiple photos..... :0) Finally got my photos resized and am ready to share! (If you click on a photo, you should be able to see a larger view with more detail...) The show in Orlando was MUCH smaller than past CHA shows, but there were still plenty of new & interesting products to add to your wish list. One trend I was thrilled to notice was lots of dimensional and textured elements. As a lover of all art that is lumpy & bumpy, this stuff is right up my ally! Lots of celebrity sitings too - Carol Duvall was interviewed by Megan Araujo for When Creativity Knocks (see photo of Ana Araujo, Megan, Carol and I below), other crafty celebrities I spotted included Suze Weinberg, Mark Montano, Sarah Hodsdon, Lisa Pavelka, Cathy Cano-Marillo, Patrick Marillo, Donna Dewberry, Mary Engelbreit, Matt Fox & Shari Hiller, Margot Potter, Claudine Helmouth, Tim Holtz, and more! I was fortunate enough to get to speak with many of them and they are all truly inspiring! Now for some photos & info....

One of my favorite "new" finds was Buzz and Bloom - this is an Australian based company and they really have some unique, fabulous products to offer! I loved their denim & cordouroy etched letters and shapes. Acrlyic albums with etched covers, and colorful acrlyic shapes were truly eye candy that made me drool! (Photos above).

We R Memory Keepers has a great new tool (stay tuned for the When Creativity Knocks Great Crafters Tool Hunt which will soon be on the site to learn about this and many more new tools!). They also had a collection of sports papers & products that caught my eye.

Reminisce had a textured line of animal print papers that just yelled out TOUCH ME when you walked by - flocked tiger & zebra stripes, ripply elephant skin..... loved them!

Prima offered some dimensional floral accents to add texture with a feminine touch.

Karen Foster has some great new titles - I love how they have assorted "font" and texture styles in each title! Looks like you custom made it, but in a fraction of the time!

Graphic 45 is a new company offering product with a vintage feel. Their samples were bursting with dimension, texture, depth..... absolutely stunning.

Blumenthal Lansing had a great make & take - button pendants! Simply hot glue the 3

buttons together - everything from bright & funky, floral and even skull & crossbones (which I just had to have 2 of for Joe & Tom!)

Expo International is always a

booth I can't miss, and they didn't disappoint this time - their new line of Bazooples embroidered appliques are adorable. The quality of the embroidery and the vibrancy of the colors is fantastic.

Maya Road has great acrylic albums - the bird shaped one shown in this photo on the right side was my favorite!

Kandi Corp may be known for it's shiny bling, but it was this Brass It Up collection that jumped out at this mom of 2 boys. Check out those Aliens!!!

Quick Quotes had a tropical feel at their booth - love the dimensional paper flowers, the colors, and the chipboard flip flop "boxes" - what a FUN way to create a summer memory album!

Sassafras had these fuzzy monsters on display - they reminded me of my own little "monsters" back at home!

That's it for now - got to get back to my creative frenzy!